Need a ThermoQuad?

[TheIronSausage]

First, let me say that I've finally found a problem with threadjacking. I love it, makes for better conversation. Harder to find that conversation again though. Spent ten minutes trying to find this thread. Don't organize this place, or grow rules all of a sudden. Lord no.. Just took a hot minute, that's all.

Unless the valves rock noticeably in the guides or have obvious visual narrowing of their stems, you'll be OK for many miles this way. Otherwise, you're gonna need guides--and at that point you might as well just completely recondition the heads the right way.

When you say "noticeably in their guides" I assume that anything approaching 1/16" total deflection is pretty well hashed, right? I'd post a clip, but that requires more effort than photos, and if you guys don't know what a sixteenth looks like, move back south of the border and speak English dammit! Just kidding, metric is way better.. As a door prize, here's some grody valves and seats for you.. the shot with the intake and exhaust valve in it must be from the back of the motor, because the other end of the head had a pretty clean exhaust valve and seat.


This kinda bums me out, I was looking forward to doing my own head work.. I've never done it before.. I've only set them up and shimmed valves after we'd gotten them back from the machine shop. It also bums me out, because that means I have to deal with my machinist. He's excellent, don't get me wrong. But he's a machinist, which means that every time I go, He makes me feel like an 16 year old girl with my mom's car at a Jiffy Lube... It's a machinist thing, haven't met a good one who doesn't treat me like I'm in short pants. I'm not an idiot, and I'm certainly not a machinist, though I'd like to think I have an aptitude for it.. Which is why I feel like an idiot every time I leave there. I just haven't learned/done it yet. It took months of regular pickups and drop offs with the last guy to get him to realize I didn't just run everything down with an impact gun, and that I actually understood things he said to me.

Edit: Maybe I can slip the tip ..uh, clip in here.. But only for a second, I promise!

Post Edit: didn't work.. but had fun trying.

 

[Dr.Jass]

Yeah, those are going to need to go to the machine shop.

You'll probably never get away from "machinist syndrome" unless you get to really know the guy well, and even then he'll still demonstrate symptoms. That's why I miss my old one. We know each other well, and he knew that I have particular ways I want things done and know my stuff. I didn't have to tell him to use the last cut on the valve job to open up the bowl area, etc. He was also a gearhead by nature and enjoyed helping make horsepower, and admitted that fundamentally, he didn't know dick about Mopars. If I was explaining something to him, he'd listen intently and usually respond with something like, "OK, that makes sense." Shame that the owners closed the shop, but he wasn't even getting full time and the money he did make was barely enough to cover the bills, especially the insurance.

 

[TheIronSausage]

I'm working on him.. Dropped the heads off today, and he actually held part of a conversation with me. Didn't look me in the eyes, but you know.. Baby steps. Talked to me long enough to say that enlarging the exhaust valve was totally worthless unless I was forcing induction. Then he praised Mopar heads for having such monstrous valves to begin with. He then used more words without being prompted to tell me how stupidly small stock Ford valves are. Progress! Say what you will about his vews on making my exhaust valves bigger, it's him or the hacks-in-a-box at the local car quest here. Everybody local swears by him without hesitation.

Which is an interesting thought, because all of the race car machine work goes to him. Sorta levels the playing field when you think that at least 90% of all of the machine work on the track at any one time was done by the same guy.

 

[Dr.Jass]

The exhaust side of the LA/Magnum head needs all the help it can get. More air out during overlap means more intake charge in, period.

Not sure if you saw 71ChargerR/T's question and my response thereto in the "And then there were 2" thread about exhaust-port air injection provisions, but if not seek it out.

 

[TheIronSausage]

I saw that, and did it on the 302's that were on the truck's old motor (sold the whole drivetrain as a lump when I did the swap, it was beyond worn out.. no regrets). The truck still has to pass state inspection here in VA because I keep it on regular tags. State inspection requires that all emissions equipment the vehicle was born with must be present and functioning at the time of inspection. I got super clever, ditched the smog pump, and contoured the bracket that held it and the compressor so that it looked like all it was meant to do was be a mount for the AC. Then I plugged the smog holes in the head, cut the fresh air tubes to the manifolds, and welded up the holes.. As a point of pride, even though I knew the right inspection stations, I took it to the meanest sumbitch inspector I knew.. My old boss, Tom Perry. He passed it every time. He's since moved to Texas. So, '71 Charger, if you know a big fat angry fucker who pulls a loaded .45 on people, and is a skeet shooting champion.. I used to work for him.. Dead serious, he pulled a gun on me at least once a day, and always called me Leroy, because he was pretty racist, and that was his idea of a dumb black guy's name.. I literally (and I don't misuse that word) did brake jobs at gunpoint.

Millenials have no idea what awaits them in the world after college